Let's Catch Up!

Hey, Hey! So, it's been a while since I've done "the blog thing," but now that Sophia has gotten to the age where she makes us laugh on a daily basis, I've decided to try and commit to posting at least once a week to share our fun stories with you all. We'll see how it goes. :o)

Our Sophia Faith is 2 and a half now, and she will tell you. She will also tell you her full name and spell it, count to 30 (and 10 in Spanish,) and anything else you ask of her. She knows the day of the week, month, and the season, but she tries to "change the day" when she is excited for an upcoming event, meaning she goes to her calendar and turns a few pages and asks if it's beach time yet. She loves to talk and meet new people, and she always greets them with a, "It's nice to meet you!" She's super bright, completely gorgeous, and has the sweetest heart of any child I've ever met. Her latest obsession is "Dinosaur Train." Believe it or not, Sophie can spout off the name AND species of over 40 different dinosaur characters, and she plays with her "dinosaur guys" all day long, every day. she also sings the "Dinosaur A to Z" song a few dozen times a day. Her other favorites are the "Fresh Beat Band," anything Disney princess related, and putting together puzzles. She can assemble 24 piece puzzles completely by herself, and a few 48 pieces if they can hold her attention! She loves to dance and play music on her keyboard and drums, and she sings every single word of her favorite shows' theme songs, all the nursery rhymes and songs she learns at school, and even about a dozen songs on the radio. My personal favorite is "Glad You Came," by the Wanted. "The sun goes down, the stars come out..."

Another favorite thing: "Going on an adventure."                       And her favorites, Bear Bear and Ned.

Playing with Laura, the giganotosaurus.

We call our Sophie a chickennuggasaurus because she would eat them all day, every day, if we'd let her. Between that and her goldfish addiction, we have to bribe her to eat most everything else, although her taste buds are finally beginning to evolve a little. She still carries her "bear bear" everywhere she goes, and she loves making wedding cake sandcastles at the beach for him and telling me they're having a wedding. She sleeps in her princess bed for 2 hours in the afternoon, and every night at 8:30 and once we lay her down, she is such a good girl and doesn't cry or get out of bed! She tells us goodnight, says her prayers by herself, prays for everyone she can name, and tells us, "Don't forget a kiss and a hug!"


                    Reading her Dinosaur Train book at the beach before bedtime with Big Mack.

That brings us to her newest and greatest accomplishment - our little brown bug is potty trained! We went to Edisto Beach a few weeks ago, and once we got there, the diapers came off. We left her in her birthday suit for most of the week, and she didn't have a single accident! She had one when we got home, and she cried for 30 solid minutes because she felt so bad, even though I kept telling her it was OK! She goes all by herself at home during the day, and she wears pull-ups when we go out and at night "just in case." The cutest thing is hearing over the baby monitor, (yes, we still use it because her room is across the house,)"Mommy! I need a potty break!" She's so smart.

More and more, Sophia is becoming a princess and a daddy's girl. She loves to snuggle with him in the afternoons and mornings when he gets her up, and she calls out for him every time she's scared or hurt. It warms my heart to see such a tough guy absolutely melt for her and play with her hair. Bless his heart, he tries so hard to straighten her hair and keep it perfect, but that girl's got curls like her Momma and they're not going anywhere! She still sucks her two middle fingers, like she's done since birth, but I guess we will wait to fight that battle a few more years.

                                                                                           We're so blessed to have parents that are so involved in her life, and she loves her "Buela" and her "G.G. and Big Mack" as much as she loves Mommy and Daddy. "Buela" and Tia Lupe went with us to Disney World in February, and G.G. and Big Mack took us to the beach this summer, so we have had the best time traveling all together and visiting with family and friends this past year. She asks to go to the zoo, the beach, and Disney World at least once a week, but we settle for anywhere with a Merry-Go-Round or the water park at Ft. Jackson. She is beginning to swim like a fish and is fearless in the water. she jumps off of the edge of the pool into the deep water, sometimes before you're even ready to catch her!

 I have also been blessed to make a new best friend for life, Angie, and her daughter Taylor has become Sophie's best friend. We get the girls together about once a week to play, and they are so cute together! They're definitely teaching each other the art of sharing and taking turns. Well, they're working on it! Sophie adores Taylor's big brother, Michael, too, and Daddy's already dreading catching a glimpse of the boy-crazy years to come.

We also have a new addition in the family! My brother James and his wife Heather just welcomed Sophie's cousin Ben into the world! He is only a month old, and Sophie already adores him. She loves to talk to him and calls him "cutie Ben." She tells me she wants a baby brother, so we're thinking we may start trying in the next year and a half or so. We want to have a little more time to dedicate to her and enjoy with her before changing things up, because right now things are pretty perfect!

I could write a few novels at this point about how wonderful Sophia is and how full of love our lives have become, but I vow to keep the blog going again, so there's plenty of time for more stories in the months and years to come. I hope you'll follow our posts of love, fun, and laughter as our sweetheart continues to grow and surprise us every day. See ya real soon!

☼